*If you start to feel like you’re missing out or losing track don’t worry, this is a typical “class”. There is no way to fall behind. Take the time you need to go back to previous articles and when you’re ready read the next in the series. Go at your own pace and take your time, this isn’t a race and you don’t have to rush to “keep up” 🙂

As for this weeks article I’m going to cover becoming an affiliate, the beginning step to making money online.

Getting set up as an “Affiliate”

Before I even begin I have to stress one thing; in order to receive toys and make money through affiliated sales you have to be the legal age within the Country you/the company resides. For the most part if you’re 18/21 you should be fine. That said it’s always best to check what the legal age is before getting started.

Now that I got that out of the way…

Just in case you don’t know what an affiliate is; an affiliate is someone who sells products online, and makes a commission through the sales that come through their links. Pretty much any advertisement you see on a website/blog is due to an affiliation.

Since most companies want to make money they will allow you to become an affiliate for free and provide you with all the necessary tools like banners, text links, customizable links etc. to succeed. For the most part all you have to do is fill out the necessary forms (takes about 5 minutes) and hit the “send” button.

Affiliate Sites I Support

During my online travels I’ve come across some great companies that employ helpful, honest, hard working and respectful people. I’ve also come across some shady, manipulative ones that sell crappy products and don’t care about their customers…that said, the sites that I’m linking for you are all ones that I support due to their level of quality, integrity, honesty and willingness to work with their affiliates to help them be successful.

(just fill out the form and hit submit. This program has a waiting period for approval but you should know in a couple of days if you were approved)

There are many more but I don’t want to overwhelm you all too soon…I’ll post more soon:)

*If you are not accepted as an affiliate to any of the above sites don’t fret. It will most likely be due to the fact that you haven’t written a review and therefore have nothing for the affiliate manager to see as a sample of your work (I’ll show you how to do that next week). Once you have written a few reviews and have content that meets the standards of the company you wish to work with you can reapply 🙂

Some Things To Note

*Where it says ‘website’ enter the blog you created with the help of last weeks article. (If you don’t have a blog I suggest you read the previous article and set one up. You’re going to need it!)

*If you’re Canadian, where it says tax ID number or anything relating to that you can just enter your SIN number. The sites are safe so don’t worry about your info, it’s well protected.

*Make sure the information that you include for your payment is correct. The last thing you need is a check being held due to a silly misspelling or sent to the wrong address.

*If the site you are affiliating to only pays via direct deposit you can very easily call the bank you are with and ask them for the necessary information.

*if you have to enter a name or user ID, use a name that will help you build your ‘brand”. I suggest you use the same name you used for your blog (or a shorter version of it) as that will once again help to build your online brand 🙂

*some affiliate programs have a box you can check to receive monthly/weekly newsletters that include updates on sale items, new product launches or other sexual health info. I highly suggest you sign up for these newsletters as they can help provide you with information that will increase your success rate as an affiliate.

*If you check the blogs of any successful affiliate they all have more than one advertisement/affiliation on their site. That said, don’t pick and choose. Instead sign up for all the affiliation sites you can handle and pick one or two to promote each week. This will not only allow your readers a variety of places to shop (and possibly get them better deals) but it will also increase your chances of gaining income from more than one source.

*as for how much you’ll make…well that all depends on you and how much time and energy you’re willing to put into promoting what you do.

*some of the affiliate sites I mentioned above will pay out a small % to me when you get sales, but don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket/commissions, it comes from the company in a tiered structure. In a future article relating to “being a successful affiliate” I will show you how to gain affiliates under you like I have. I’d do it now but I don’t want to overwhelm you with too many steps/information.

Wrapping It Up

In regard to becoming an affiliate there isn’t much more that I can suggest. It’s rather easy to fill out a form, hit the submit button and wait for approval. The challenge lies in becoming a successful affiliate, something I plan on helping you become with this series.

As for the series itself, while it will be slightly technical in nature, I will do my very best to help you learn in a step-by-step way that is fun, easy to understand, provides insight to the industry and shows you ways of getting involved when you have no previous knowledge to help.

Remember guys, I was once in your shoes and know just how confusing it can seem. That in mind, with a little help and support I’m sure you can learn how to be successful at doing something that is not only liberating but tonnes of fun as well!

For those of you that already have a blog up and running, next week I’ll be focusing on writing a review. The article will cover the “do’s” and “don’ts” of writing a respectful and professional review, offer suggestions of what you should include(regarding the products your reviewing), provide examples of reviews from others that I personally love and help you find companies that will provide you with toys to review for free (should you be accepted).

For those of you that don’t yet have a blog but would like to participate I suggest you go back to the previous article and get started.

If you have any questions about setting up your blog/becoming an affiliate do your best to find the answers online, if you can’t feel free to send me a message and I’ll do what I can to help 🙂